How's Your "Information Diet"?
In a time when everyone is inundated with information, quite literally at their fingertips, Clay Johnson makes the claim that we need to be “conscious consumers rather than mindless scrollers” (Gungor & McHargue, 2017). Johnson is the author of The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption. During a podcast episode with “The Liturgists,” he discusses that as individuals who likely get the majority of our information from scrolling on social media, we must be mindful of the motivations behind those organizations regarding what information they are feeding into our newsfeeds. Johnson says that these online platforms operate on systems that filter out information that we might disagree with, and instead expose us to content that align more with our interests and beliefs. This leads us, as consumers, to receive an unhealthy “information diet” because we are not being exposed to varying perspectives or taking time to analyze sources for accuracy and legitimacy (Gungor & McHargue, 2017).
The episode from The Liturgists about “Fake News & Media Literacy” was very thought-provoking and informative, and it has had me reflecting on my “information diet” all week long. With the stress of teaching middle schoolers in a pandemic and taking Master’s level classes, I am much more prone to the “mindless scrolling” that Clay Johnson warned listeners against. This week, during my mindless scrolling sessions, I have noticed that I am much more inclined to quickly believe claims made by TikTok/Facebook/Instagram/Twitter users than I would be if I took the time to fact-check or research on my own. As someone who hopes to be a school librarian in the near future, the current state of my “information diet” won’t cut it.
It will start with limiting the amount of time that I spend mindlessly scrolling through various social media platforms, as well as limiting who I get my information from. This means that I will need to intentionally expose myself to more diverse information and news media sources, and intentionally decrease my intake of information shared on social media by people and organizations that are not credible. As a teacher, it is vital to stay informed about issues and topics that directly affect my profession, and the same is true for school librarians. It also means being aware of topics and current events that affect our students or may inspire them to learn more. Credible sources that provide this information will need to be a consistent part of my “information diet” so that I may be highly effective at helping students locate and have access to information.
A key part of maintaining a healthy “information diet” is having a strategy to fact-check an article or analyze its credibility. Mike McHargue, a.k.a. Science Mike, shares his “things to look for when analyzing a source” in the podcast episode by The Liturgists about media literacy. He discusses the importance of a well-written article, the date of publication, and whether or not the author cites specific sources. He also encourages listeners to be aware of how one feels when reading an article: does it make the reader angry or fearful? Then keep digging, he suggests! As school librarians, these are important things to look out for, but to also point out to our students in order to better prepare them to be 21st century learners and individuals.
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Miss Black,
ReplyDeleteI like that you brought up how endless scrolling through social media sites like Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/TikTok makes people more inclined to believe quick snippets of information without fact-checking as they mindlessly scroll. I use Instagram to post pics of my family, but other than that, before beginning this program I had never used the other sites, or used social media as a way to promote information of any kind. Several of my library classes have required one or more of these sites, so I have begun an Instagram page where I pretty regularly post library/book information. My point in saying this is that as someone who is claiming to be on a journey to be a librarian, I have found it very difficult to decide what to post. I feel a greater responsibility to fact check anything I might repost, and to make sure the thing I am saying/posting, are sound. In an age of mindless scrolling, we as librarians need to be an example of responsibly posting, and I guess I have a sort of anxiety about posting! I don't get into Twitter or Facebook as much, because there is a lot more sharing of articles and information, whereas my library instagram is mostly sharing my reviews of children's books. Just something your post made me think about! Oh and if anyone is interested my Instagram is @librarianjourney lol!
-Kristen "DeAnne" Anderson
YES! I also feel that responsibility when I repost something, and even when I'm responding to comments on posts that I know are not giving all of the information. I like how you said that we need to be an example of posting responsibly. I sometimes feel anxious after I've seen so many people post articles/pictures/memes/videos that aren't credible, because I feel like I have a responsibility to correct them or guide them toward more factual information. I don't want to come off as a "know-it-all", though, because I certainly do not have all the information. It is a happy medium that I haven't quite found, yet.
DeleteAlso, I will be following you! I love seeing book reviews and what other teachers and librarians are doing. Keep it up!!
I, too, am guilty of mindless scrolling as a way to relax myself during stressful times! This seems to be happening much more frequently as I navigate teaching during a pandemic, so I completely understand. I also wrote about needing to locate sources for well-written information to create a more varied and credible place to obtain my information. I find myself thinking so much during the day that I appreciate activities that don't require so much effort, but it probably wouldn't hurt to find some new ways to accomplish this. I also liked how the podcast explained that our emotional reactions to material can be an indicator that it may not be reliable. I'll need to better analyze how the material I read is influencing the way that I think!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Ford
Working in a school and/or with students is definitely stressful right now. I love to read, but have found that I don't even have the stamina for that right now. Isn't it awful?! I hope that you are able to make the most of this long weekend and get some rest! I hope we all do!
DeleteYou are so right! We need to make sure that WE have healthy media habits so we can teach students to approach it the same way. My mother-in-law approached me a couple of months ago and asked me how she could tell if something she was reading on Facebook was true or not. I was caught a little off guard because I did not have a strategy for fact checking that I followed. I fell more into the category of "If I agree with it, then it is real news!" I know that there are a lot of complicated and media dependent issues happening in our world right now, and I want to be able to direct students (and other adults!) to the information that is true so that they will not be mislead by fake or biased news.
ReplyDeleteI'm like you in that I didn't have a strategy, either! I think that was one of the reasons I enjoyed the podcast so much this week. They outlined clear steps and things to look out for when determining credibility of a source. It gave me confidence in helping myself (and others) to fact-check, and I hope it did the same for you!
DeleteThis week was really eye opening for me! I am so guilty of mindlessly scrolling through social media. I guess the best way to describe my information diet is that I avoid it if at all possible. I've heard several family members say they saw something on Facebook that I felt like probably did not hold much truth, and I've told them maybe they should look more into that. Until this week, I've never really realized that I couldn't tell them how they could "look more into" it if they wanted to. I definitely need to work on my information diet in order to help direct others on theirs!
ReplyDeleteSame! Having those discussions with family is difficult, too. I was thankful for the podcast outlining the steps that it did to help with the task of looking further into topics!
DeleteMiss Black,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the Liturgists pod cast too. Science Mike's checklist song had me laughing out loud and looking like a dodo as I walked along my neighborhood sidewalk! I had forgotten his point about checking in with your emotions and using them as a barometer as you read so, thanks for that reminder. That point alone is golden both for personal consumption and to use as a teaching point.
-DeAnna Owens
Isn't it?! I've asked myself a lot this week while scrolling, "Okay, does this make me angry or fearful? What is my immediate emotional reaction?" It has been helpful.
DeleteAlso, the song was hilarious! I wanted to share it with my 6th grade students, but am not sure how that would go over considering some of the strong language!